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I love to read and I always have a book with me wherever I go. I am happily married and we have 2 chocolate labs, Maddie & Chloe. In addition to books, I also love to scrapbook and crochet. Contact me: k2reader@gmail.com

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Friday, September 16, 2011

Review: The Island by Elin Hilderbrand (audio)

From the back of the audio case: Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter, Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut backyard pond to the color of the cocktail napkins. Like any mother of a bride-to-be, she is weathering the storms of excitement and chaos, tears and joy. But Birdie, a woman who prides herself on preparing for every possibility, could never have predicted the late-night phone call from Chess abruptly announcing that she's canceled her engagement.

It's only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Before the dust has even begun to settle, far worse news arrives, sending Chess into a tailspin of despair. Reluctantly taking a break from the first new romance she's embarked on since the recent end of her thirty-year marriage, Birdie circles the wagons and enlists the help of her younger daughter, Tate, and her own sister, India. Soon all four are headed to beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island, off the coast of Nantucket, where their family has summered for generations. No phones, no television, no grocery store - a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles.

But when sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets come together on a remote island, what might sound like a peaceful getaway becomes much more. Before summer has ended, dramatic truths are uncovered, old loves are rekindled, and new loves make themselves known. It's a summertime story only Elin Hilderbrand can tell, filled with the heartache, laughter, and surprises that have made her compelling, bestselling novels as much a part of summer as a long afternoon on a sunny beach.

Read by: Denice Hicks

My thoughts: It's not the summer unless I get to read an Elin Hilderbrand book and this summer I got to read three. This last one, The Island, I listened to and thought it was fantastic! Perhaps it's because I have two sisters that I could relate to the sibling relationships and therefore felt this to be quite a realistic story.

The Island follows a family of four women as they spend a month on Tuckernuck, a remote island off the coast of Nantucket. The women are two sets of sisters, Birdie and India, and Birdie's two daughters, Chess and Tate. The trip comes about in the midst of Chess' broken engagement and the tragic death of her ex-fiance. Although the women arrive on Tuckernuck hoping the quiet and remote place will heal Chess, each of the four women finds a type of healing and rebirth on the island that they had never expected. The novel is told from the rotating perspectives of the four women, which gives the reader the opportunity to identify with each of the women and her story. Each woman brings her own unique set of problems and issues and the stories interweave and make for a heartfelt read. Each story grabs your heart and twists with a vengeance. I found myself rooting for each of the four women and wanting the best for them.

I have now read all of Elin Hilderbrand's books and each one was great. I love that she uses Nantucket as her setting - I hope to one day get there but feel like I get to go there with each book I read of hers. I look forward to next summer when her latest comes out.

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